Nationalism goes through the history of modern Japanese arts and crafts. Different from traditional arts which enjoy much freedom, modern Japanese arts served as a spiritual tool and artistic carrier for Japanese-style westernization and played an important role in the Japanese modernization. However, the modernization of Chinese fine arts struggled with each step because of the imperialist colonial aggression and the constraint of deep-rooted cultural and artistic traditions in China. The slogan “Chinese Culture and Western Technology” proposed by the Self-Strengthening Movement during the late Qing Dynasty bore superifcial resemblance with the idea “Japanese Spirit and Western Techniques”. Deep down , the slogan relfected feudal literati and ofifcialdom’s worship for Chinese system and their contempt for western civilization. In modern East Asia, art became a tool for each country to build its nationalism and it is still true today. The goal of constructing the Art History of East Asia proposed by Sato Doshin, in my opinion, can not be realized at present and it is also dififcult to achieve in the future.%近代日本的“美术工艺”发展历史贯穿一条民族主义的红线。与之前日本传统的“工艺”相比，它失去了自在自为的原生态，成为日本现代民族主义的一种精神道具，“和魂洋才”的艺术载体，在日本的现代化的历史进程中发挥了重要的作用。中国美术的近代化则举步维艰，除帝国主义殖民侵略的外因之外，还有中国文化传统、艺术传统的根深蒂固。“中体西用”这个洋务运动中提出的口号，表面上似乎与“和魂洋才”相近，实际上反映了封建士大夫崇内鄙外的心态。在近代东亚，美术成为各国建构民族国家的工具，现在依然如此。佐藤信道先生提出广域东亚美术史的构想，我认为在现阶段不可能实现，将来也很难说。
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